aim fntsbanftm 
X. A. WILLARD, A. M., EDITOR, 
Of Little Fall*, Hkrkimsk Countv, New York. 
STOCK FOR THE DAIRY. 
X. A. Willard, EsQ-Dear Sir: I have read 
with interest your paper on cheese making In 
England, published in tho United States Agricul¬ 
tural Report for 1806. Incidentally you speak of 
the breed of cows kept for the dairy in some of 
the principal cheese districts, as Durham or 
grade Durham. Now. I would like to leant from 
you to what extent this breed is used in till Eng¬ 
land, and if grades with what other breed or 
breeds they arc crossed for dairy purposes; 
whether Durhams have displaced tho Ayrshire; 
whether Jlorefords are used at all for the dairy, 
and if so, to what extent. A reply as fully as you 
can make convenient will much oblige me. 
We are working into these various foreign 
breeds to some extent, but quite too much at 
random, I think. What, has boon found to do 
best in England wliero the different breeds come 
into close competition, would be likely to be also 
best for us hero. What breed (or breeds) Is most 
approved In your dairy districts iii New York? 
Your reply will be much valued as good au¬ 
thority. Respectfully yours, S. W. Coburn. 
Skowhegan, Me., March 19, 1860. 
Remarks. — In some of the dairy districts 
of England, but little attention is paid to the 
breeding of thorough-bred stock for the dairy. 
In Somersetshire, where the famous Cheddar 
cheese originated, and which produces an¬ 
nually upward of forty millions of pounds of 
cheese, the herds are made up of Devons, 
Hercfords, and grade Short, - Ilorns, and 
with these are generally mingled a few pure 
bred Alderneys. In Wiltshire, some atten¬ 
tion is paid to breeding, and thorough bred 
Short-Horns are not uncommon. In Cheshire 
the leading stock is Short Horns or grades 
partaking largely of that blood, but recently 
the Ayrshire* have been introduced to some 
extent, and stand high as a milking stock. 
In the West of England, the Devons are 
generally pure of their kind, and the Short- 
Ilorn grades here come from crossing on the 
common or original stock of a district. In 
Somersetshire some fifty years ago they had 
in the neighborhood of the Mendip Hills 
what was termed the Mendip cow; and in 
other parts of the county wliat was called 
the Hampshire cow. These through several 
generations of cows have been crossed with 
the Short-Hums, and there is now scarcely 
any of the old stock left, the descendants 
partaking largely of the Short Horn blood. 
The Hereford^ are not considered so good 
for milk as the IShort-IIorns or the Devons, 
but they fatten readily and make excellent 
beef. In the Somerset dairies the herds are 
not usually made up of any particular 
breed. Many do not raise all the stock they 
need, and are every year purchasing and 
selling. The cows they turn off are for the 
shambles, while those that are purchased are 
selected with an eye to “meat making” as 
well as for milk. Thus a variety of breeds 
and grades get iuto the herds. 
The English system for dairy profits differs 
somewhat from that in the old dairy districts 
of America. Beef brings a good price and 
is of ready sale in England. Dairy cows, as 
a rule, are turned off before they get old. 
They prefer, therefore, an animal that will 
readily fatten and will give them a profit, in 
meat, rather than one that is serviceable 
only for milk. They think old cows do not 
yield so good milk as young cows, and, as 
old cows are more difficult and expensive to 
fatten, they do not, as a rule, keep them. 
In the dairy districts of New York it is 
not considered profitable to fatten cows for 
the butcher. Cows are purchased or raised 
wholly for milk. When a good milker is 
obtained she is kept for milk as long as she 
will Last—and unless some accident befall 
her, she grows old on the farm, loses her 
teeth and is then turned off in the fall in 
thin condition for what she will bring. 
Drovers go about buying up this kind of 
stock for “ Barrelers, ” as they are termed, 
giving from $8 to $12 per head. 
The English dairymen purchases his 
stock with the intention of selling (after 
using for milkers) for as much money at 
least as they originally cost, or if possible to 
realise a little profit In the sale above cost. 
The American and English dairy systems, 
so far as meat making is concerned, it will be 
seen differ. 
In the dairy districts of the West of Eng¬ 
land the Short-Horns or Short-IIom grades 
are thought, on the whole, to be better suited 
to their system than other breeds. That is, 
that stock of this blood give more milk and 
beef and can be turned at any time to better 
account for the shambles. 
The Ayrshires, as we remarked, have only 
recently been introduced among the dairies 
of England—at least to any great extent. 
They have been bred in Scotland with par 
ticular reference to their milking qualities, 
and as a breed they yield remarkably good 
returns. The Scotch claim that they make 
good beet. They are active, hardy and well 
adapted to hilly or broken lands. Some 
object to the Ayrshires on account of their 
short teats, and especially on account of 
their nervous or excitable disposition. This 
last is sometimes considered a serious defect, 
since it is difficult to obtain laborers who 
will study the disposition of animals and be 
kind and attentive to them. 
In the dairy districts of New York the 
herds are made up of grades of various 
breeds—Short-1 lorns, Devons, Ayrshires, 
Alderneys, crossed on the common cows of 
the country, and not unfrcquently stock is 
raised having the blood of all these. In 
Herkimer County, New York, of late years, 
a large number of cows have been brought 
in to fill up the herds. The question is not 
so much what the breed is, as to get a good 
milker. Some prefer a cross of Short-IIorns 
and others of Ayrshires. Some of our best 
dairymen, who raise their own stock, like a 
mixture of Short-IIorn and Ayrshire blood. 
They say this gives good sized animals, good 
udders and teats, quiet dispositions, and high 
milking qualities. 
The question of what is the best breed for 
the dairy is one which has been long and 
widely discussed, and upou which great 
difference of opinion exists. Stock which is 
adapted to one man’s farm may be ill adapted 
to another’s. We could hardly expect the 
Short-horns to thrive upon hilly, rough, 
broken pastures; while the more active 
Ayrshires, upon such soil, would keep in 
good condition and till the milk pails. 
On level or slightly undulating and rich 
pastures, Short-Horns of good milking 
families might be most profitable, and espe¬ 
cially so, if the English system of meat 
making was adopted. There the butter 
dairyman would regard richness of milk of 
more Importance than quantity of an inferior 
quality; giving a preference to the Jerseys. I 
The man who sells milk for city consumption 
will regard quantity of much more import¬ 
ance than quality. 
In determining which breed is best, nil 
these circumstances are to be considered— 
the nature of the lands where the animals 
are to be pastured, the purposes for which 
the milk is to be employed, together with 
the question of meat making. All these 
points should be well considered and then 
the dairyman will be able to set to work in¬ 
telligently and select a strain of blood that 
will best meet his case and yield the most 
profits, 
-- 
SOILING AND PASTURING. 
Soiling Milfli Cows in Connection with Pas- 
turage. 
A writer in the Country Gentleman says 
that for some years he has been of the opin¬ 
ion that milk could In; more successfully ami 
economically produced by soiling, (at least 
in part,) than by depending exclusively on 
pasture. Four years ago he began growing.) 
crops for soiling eight to ten cows, which 
were kept for milk and butter for the family. \ 
The result has been so satisfactory that the 
number of cows lias been increased each 
year. This experience leads him to believe 
that a herd of cows will do better by being 
allowed a run at pasture occasionally for a 
week or two at a time, feeding thus in the 
middle of the day. 
He does not give the number of cows kept, 
but says he appropriates two fields of fifteen 
acres each, and each field is devoted to half 
the herd respectively. 
The question of soiling in connection with 
pasturage is one of considerable importance. 
There are those who contend that cows do 
quite, as well or better when the system of 
soiling is practiced exclusive of pasturage. 
In this case, a dry yard is provided, where 
the animals are turned from the stable a 
portion of the day to take exercise and get 
sun and air. A run at pasturage, occasion¬ 
ally, even though the field is comparatively 
small, would seem to be more natural and 
conducive to health, and hence the system 
meets the views of some better than the ex¬ 
clusive plan referred to above. 
We need some carefully conducted experi¬ 
ments, however, to settle this question, since 
it is evident that those advocating either 
system have not always come to their con¬ 
clusions dispassionately, but have been influ¬ 
enced to some extent by the circumstances 
surrounding each particular case. Thus, 
where persons have convenient broken lands 
that cannot well be tilled or put profitably 
to other use than pasturage, the system of 
pasturage in connection with soiling is pre¬ 
sented hi a more favorable light than it would 
be, perhaps, if the lands were all level, rich 
and tillable. 
The writer from whom we have quoted 
also expresses the opinion, that the early 
cropping of pastures in spring is not injuri¬ 
ous. He says: — “ Pasturing judiciously 
early in spring does not seem to lessen or 
retard the growth of the grass. When 
closely grazed in the early part of May, and 
the cattle then kept off, it will grow with 
wonderful rapidity, and yield nearly, if not 
quite, as much pasture in June, as though it 
had not been eaten off in the early spring.” 
The system of soiling in connection with 
pasturage offers many advantages, and can 
be easily adopted. A heavy stock can thus 
be carried upon dairy farms without fear 
of stinting the animals for food, while the 
expense is comparatively small in propor¬ 
tion to the benefits realized. 
lamestic Gkanawin 
CONDUCTED BY MARY A. E. WAGER. 
BISCUIT BEATERS. 
The accompanying cuts represent a Bis¬ 
cuit Beater—an invention of my own, I sup¬ 
pose, as I have never seen one like it. No. 
1 is the kind I am using now, and am sure it 
will be regarded by every one who uses it 
as the best, simplest, cheapest and the most, 
complete labor-saving implement ever used 
in a kitchen. 
A Is a spring or wooden sweep of hard, 
elastic timber, made as long as the kitchen 
room will allow; B the fulcrum or support; 
C the wall or partition ; D a pestle of hick¬ 
ory, ash or beech, weighing ten or fifteen 
pounds, attached by a chain to the spring- 
sweep, small in the center for the grasp, and 
hung about ten indues above the dough 
board on the block or table E. 
No. 2 may lie considered a more costly 
and a more elegant edition of the same 
dough beater. This may be made by con¬ 
structing a spiral spring, as represented by 
X, and fastening it to the ceiling overhead ; 
Y is an iron rod running through the spiral 
spring to an iron cap at top of spring, which 
plays up ami down between four Iron rods, 
containing the spring between them. ^ 
Ninety-Six, S. C. j. h. m. 
- +++ - 
HOUSE CLEANING. 
Men are such very orderly, nice, peace- 
loving creatures, that the very word house¬ 
cleaning puts them into a spiritual spasm. 
They don’t see why a house can’t bo kept 
clean, and so avoid the semi-annual revolu¬ 
tion that is generally believed inimical to 
good dinners and tidy wives and daughters. 
It certainly is a very dubious si;;Ut to see 
carpets stretched over a pole, windows out, 
bedding on the lines, and not one room in 
the house fit for a distracted soul to sit down 
in with comfort. Unless there is painting, 
or much whitening of walls to be done, the 
season of house-cleaning need, not be regard¬ 
ed with iear or dread by the mast timid man. 
But it is not. for a man’s comfort or salva¬ 
tion that wo write. If he will -only obey his 
wife’s orders at this critical period, and 
keep good-natured, no fault shall be found 
with him. But to the women, t) ie wives and 
Generally, you begin house-cleaning too 
early. The last of .May is early enough. 
Don’t fall into the error of letting domestic 
cleanliness go at. fault because you are to 
“clean house next week.” On cold, raw 
spring days, with windows out., your sleeves 
Up and perhaps dress wet, you run the risk 
of taking cold, besides endangering the health 
of others. 
Clean and put in order one room at. a 
time, and one in each day is enough. One 
hears too often the remark “she over-did, in 
house-cleaning.” Yes, and too many of you 
are over-doing every day. There isn’t in all 
the laud such an over-worked, broken-down 
race of women as l,hu wives of farmers. You 
do wit bout help in the house so your husband 
can have more on tho Farm. You work 
yourselves to death, so your children may 
have a stepmother, or with a view of living 
easier hy-and-by, or so you may have some¬ 
thing to leave for others to quarrel over. 
You get up early and work late. You feel 
conscious, when you take time to think about 
it, that your health is the most precious thing 
you can have, and that without it all tho 
money and luxuries that your economy and 
hard work may have gained bring but 
meager comfort. But still, you will continue 
so for “ this summer." One season will not 
matter. 
T.o squeeze two days’ work into one is not 
economy. To do your own work unaided, 
when you have not the strength to do it, 
is not economy. It Is a very grave error 
that many men have fallen iuto, of saying a 
woman’s work doesn't amount to anything. 
Because she has always dunu it for a mere 
pittance is no sign the work is of no account. 
And a man who pays a hired man thirty 
dollars a month, Sundays excepted, and 
growls at paying a woman twenty, Sundays 
included, has only one side to his soul, and 
that lie never turns to the sun. There is no 
sense in farmers, or their wives or daughters, 
working harder for a living than those In 
Other avocations, if they will only use their 
brains more and exhaust physical strength 
less. 
But this is not liotise-cleaning. Mouldings 
and carved work, cornices and the like, are 
more easily and thoroughly cleaned with a 
stiff brush than with a cloth. Windows 
should be well marked so as to prevent mis- 
mating. Broken panes should always be 
mended or replaced at once. Nothing is 
( so indicative of shiftlessness as, and nothing 
looks worse than, dilapidated windows. 
Sloven. 
We give that special heading, as the word 
is specially curious in itself. W e never knew 
a man but began to look for his hat when 
the subject of taking down or putting up 
stoves was broached. It knocks the ami¬ 
ability out of him with one blow. Man- 
judgment cannot see, the propriety or good 
sense in carting away the stoves to the gar¬ 
ret until fall. But. lie usually enjoys the 
changes that take place hi the room after the 
stove is removed. But one stove aside from 
the cook stove should always be left up, for 
cold, damp days will always occur in our 
climate. When putting away stoves, the 
minor details, such as wire, loops and the 
like, should be put aside where they can bo 
found when needed. A white cloth should 
be pasted neatly over the stove-pipe hole 
during the summer. The reason is obvious. 
Curtains, Tidies, Etc. 
It will be found the best way, in -washing 
curtains, etc., of a thin or porous character, 
after starching them ill cooked starch, to pin 
them out on a clean carpel (or with sheet 
between) to dry. It is less work than to iron 
them, and they have a fresher, newer look, 
and retain tlieir stiffness better. Tidies and 
mats may be similarly treated. 
I'uper Hunting. 
A whitewash brush is the thing for apply¬ 
ing paste to paper, and after hanging the 
paper at the top of the wall, a dry brush, 
brushed each way from the centre of the 
strip, is the right instrument for smoothing it 
to the wall. Whitewashing should be done 
before the paper is lnmg, else care should be 
observed not to daub the bordering. A thin 
strip of wood or tin may be used to protect 
it, by the whitener. 
Painting. 
In painting doors, in-doors, for the kitchen 
dining and living rooms, the panels should 
be painted of a lighter color than the frame 
work. A sort of cream color for the panels, 
and a slate or very light, reddish-brown for 
the upright and cross pieces, look well. The 
same harmony should be observed in the 
remaining wood-work. The door and win¬ 
dow casings should be light, the foot or 
mop-board dark, and the moulding above 
it, if any, light. 
A Word to the Men, 
if wise, is sufficient. Clean your boots this 
muddy spring weather, before going in the 
house. Women don’t like to have their nice, 
clean floors and steps, all tracked up an hour 
after cleaning them, any better than you like 
to put up stoves. It is much easier, and bel- 
muddy and dirty you get them in doing 
spring work. Bee that the foot-scrapers are 
in order. 
Bints 
maybe made by a three-straml braid of corn 
husks, sewed around like u mat, with twine. 
Feed the. husks in plentifully, leaving the 
hard ends two inches margin, which stick 
up, forming the tuft of the mat. 
Cleaning Knives, The tilings ol’ steel or other 
metal that collects in blacksmith shops and 
foundries is very nice for cleaning knives and 
forks. It costa nothing, only tho forethought of 
taking a basin or some sort of dish to got it in. 
- - -» »♦-—-- 
Faeu for the Ladies.— I learned tho usp of my 
Wheeler & Wilson Machine without pe&jftnal in¬ 
struction. 11. has boon used nearly twelve years, 
without repairs, by myself and seamstresses, do¬ 
ing my family sewing, estimated at $300annually, 
and bids fall- to do ns good service for a lifetime. 
My needles are never broken, but really worn up 
too short for use. Tho actual value of my ma¬ 
chine cannot bo estimated Commercially, nor 
expressed in words. Those only can properly 
appreciate it who have attempted family sowing 
by baud.—M m. M. F. Woods, New Virrk. 
lorsewan. 
daughters of the farm, we have a few sug- ter, for you to slip your feet out of your wet, 
gestions to offer, and what we think or be- muddy boots into clean, dry ones at the back 
lie vo is the outgrowth of practical experience* or wood-house door, than for some one to 
instead of simple theorizing. clean up after you; ami you know how 
MODE OF REPAIRING HORSES' 
FEET. 
Horses which stand nearly or quite the 
year round, and sometimes from year to 
year, in ilm stable, arc apt to have tho feet 
gel iuto a dry oml often levered condition ; 
the hoof becomes dry, hard, and often con¬ 
tracted, frequently, also, very brittle, and the 
home sometimes suffers lameness in conse¬ 
quence. Now one of tho most effective 
means Of remedying these difficulties, where 
tho horse cannot be spared to be turned into 
pasture for quite a season, Is in the spring, 
when the ground is breaking up, and the 
winter’s frost disappearing, arid no lasting 
freeze is to be apprehended, to have all of the 
shoes taken off and drive the horse daily 
about, business, us usual, w ithout them. The 
roads remain muddy and soft, usually, so 
that u horse may be thus driven daily for a 
period of three or four weeks, and a great 
improvement is effected in the feet in every 
respect. 1 have had a horse whose feet 
were fevered, hoof contracted, hal’d and 
brittle, thoroughly renovated or cured by a 
season of such usage. When the ground 
becomes hard, and the feet become too ten¬ 
der to drive longer, then have the shoes put 
on. This treatment, of course would not be 
applicable on pavements, but throughout the 
country, ill all of the Northern States,‘it is. 
Although daily driving a horse, in the prac¬ 
tice of medicine, of late years, 1 have never 
had shoes put on the bind feet except in the 
frozen part of the year, and the expense of 
shoeing is not only saved, but I find the 
horse equally as useful, and the feet all the 
better lbr the practice. 
While on the subject of horses, I may add 
that for inveterate scratches the application 
of tincture of Iodine is often more effective 
than anything else, followed by applications 
of castor oil to mollify,- say, apply the 
iodine at night and the oil in the morning. 
But the thorough cleansing of the diseased 
part daily with soapsuds is necessary to the 
| good success of any treatment in any case 
of severity. 1 have algo promptly and effec¬ 
tually cured grease in the horse by one, two 
or three, round applications of the same 
remedy. In this case, the insurance of 
thorough cleanliness with soapsuds is indis- 
densable. *' ,r ' Medica. 
-♦♦♦- 
Preparing Food for Horne*. ■“ An Old Farmer” 
writes us that in the absence of better apparatus 
for cooking food for horses ho manages in this 
Way:—As soon as he builds his llros in the morn¬ 
ing he fills a keltic that will liold three or four 
gallons with water, and sets it on the stove; 
goes to the barn, feeds a little hay to his horses, 
and cares for the other stock. By tho time this 
is done the water 19 hot. 11 is taken to the barn, 
put in two buckets, meal added and allowed to 
scald, straw is cut and the whole mixed and fed. 
He says it is tho way to have slock horses. Ho 
hits not fed a ton of hay In three months. Feeds 
four quarts of corn and oat meal morning and 
ev ening, and it will keep a work horse fat. Has 
a span of throe-year old oolta that have worked 
all winter wildi live pounds each (of what?) per 
day, and they are in good trim for tho spring’s 
work. 
.-- 
Worms in Horses.—It seems t hat easarides, or 
pin worms In the rectum of horses have prevail¬ 
ed Eastward as well as here in the West, where 
they have been very common and severe the 
past winter, A lino pair of carriage horses have 
suffered very inqrh from thorn this winter, and 
their appearance has been very much Injured. 
After trying all the remedies of farriers, I can 
safely say that nothing did any good till they • 
were turned out to pasture, when the worms 
disappeared immediately: but ii will take 
time for the animals to get back where they were 
last fail. This Is my remedy. It’ any reader has 
another any better, or as good, he ought to let it 
be known.— Northwest. 
- - 4 +^- 
Barley Straw for llornes. — Martin TymeSON- 
Galion, ()., writes: “t lived iu Western New 
York fifty years. I fed barley stmw t.o horses 
for years, wit h tho best results. I cut. and wot it, 
and put ou bran; also fed barley stmw and Corn 
meal. 1 have fed it wetand dry. I never knew 
it to weaken a horse in any way unless I did not 
giv e them enough to make a full feed. I never 
knew a horse to bo troubled with bots or worms 
if fed wit h barley straw. I think it quite as good 
horse feed as clover hay.” 
